carboluka's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[3manon vs. Arponax - Surf 'n' Turf]

First

Arponax responds:

Second

[Frosty Glide Ride]

Even though it's just out of my too five, I appreciate the courage to take the Mario Kart route for the contest lol

Everratic responds:

Thanks!

[Chocnoon x Carboluka - LAS AVENTURAS FLIPANTES DE JOAQUIN ALEJANDRO EL DRAGON AZUL (DCLXIX)]

I tried

MWMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM responds:

its good for a newbie at hardcore

[sillystep]

You broke my ankles and knees with that intro misdirection, GG

SoTshu responds:

yeah im kinda hoping that people wont immediately leave the song with this intro lmao
much love!!

[Who Dun It? A Murder Mystery Audio Drama]

Oh daaaaam... didn't know it was gonna be this good, like I'm actually blown away by the quality of the voice acting, the story, the pacing, the sound design. 100% worth the wait, thanks for letting me sneak in a song!

AhWham responds:

Hey thank you for coming in clutch with it!

[FIGHT OF THE FLAMES - Boss Music]

Heyo, here to judge. Lengthy song ay?

No worries, listened to it all. Banger.

I will not analyze each section since it's NINE MINUTES LONG, but I'll admit I was checking for one thing in particular: would I realize that much time had passed when the song was over? Time flew by, I'll tell you that much.

I like how you went for an hip-hop style, with drum breaks and countless samples; it makes it almost sound like this enemy is made of recycled pop culture material, and I find that fascinating. I'll admit I never played Terraria or know of the OST, but looking at the graphics, yeah that checks. Might be pretty unorthodox compared to the rest of the competition, but I admire the courage.
Sound design is excellent and the solo, although short, pretty crazy and trundular.

Some time signature changes are appreciated to keep the beat fresh, and I find the switch to a trap/drill beat later on pretty fun. The climax towards the end (forgive me, I don't remember the timestamp lol) is well done. The MVP though must of course be the way you endlessly modulate the BPM, that's the secret ingredient to not make such a long song feel stale, that was a great intuition on your part.

Only nitpick is that 2:15 is pretty odd since it sounds a bit hollowed out compared to the rest of the song, but I understand that keeping up this pace can burn you out in no time, so that's just plain humanity at play.
Great job 👍

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Restlessness check: 14

LHPixel8 responds:

Thanks for the review :)

[Andras (Author of Discords)]

Heyo, here to judge.

Straight away, sound library quality is through the roof (the choir sounds greatttt), plus the subtle layer of organic + synthetic is always a great texture; the call and response between the choir and the horns is neat and well-integrated.

I'm hearing quite a lot of time modulation, they work really well individually. The 5/4 section being this mellow is quite interesting, especially this early in the song (the minor 7th chord in there is really odd though, it's a bit too jazz-fusion-ush for the vibe you were going for imo). The strings arpeggio with the brass screaming on top is great, but I don't like how it gets cut off at 1:15 abruptly: in general, everytime we go back to that section, there's always an awkward jump which I feel could have been polished more. It is quite an imperial composition, so I understand how difficult is to make all transitions work.

The orchestration is absolutely legendary, fantastic job with the strings and the brasses and the woodwinds, the melodies are too notch in creating tangible tension and mystery.

Mix-wise the volumes are on point, but I'm hearing some distinct clicks (not sure if that's because of an incredibly fast attack from the violins, but it's pretty distracting nonetheless) and in one or two points the peaks clip a bit.

As for bossbattle-ness, I think it could fit, but it really needs some more driving rhythmic elements.

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Restlessness check: 11

Possibly responds:

Thanks for the detailed review, appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.

[The Confrontation]

Heyo, here to judge. I feel trapped in the Matrix lol

I like the trance aesthetic you went for, it's solemn and moody. I think starting right off the bat with an aggressive gritty bass is an interesting choice, but it catches your attention, ready to react. The first thing I have to address is the MIDIness of it all: limitations are a P.I.T.A., but even just playing around with velocity (not sure Audacity has that tho lol), or screwing around with timing would make it a tad less noticeable.

The choice I admire the most composition-wise is letting the "drop" at 1:00 simply fade in instead of exploding or abruptly transitioning into it, I didn't even notice we were in another section at first: it subverted my expectations and I'm happy when I feel that way lol

This section in general is pretty nice (heard "The Lick" in there goddamnit that was funny 💀) in the way it builds up to what essentially is a reprise of the intro, with the noticeable difference being the violin playing the melody twice as fast, pretty neat detail.

The next section (reprise of the second section) playing the guitar melody at first an octave lower is genius imo, it gives it that much more weight when it shifts an octave back up. Also, I always appreciate rhythmically ambiguous breaks, those are my ambrosia, so props for that ending.

The composition overall is pretty nice, but the mix could be revised: it all sounds a bit flat overall (not hearing any sensible punchiness), there are some pretty annoying frequencies to dampen, and the snare doesn't sound blended in, so just touch up on that a bit.

It sounds like a pretty neat boss track though.

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Restlessness check: 13

Dynamic0 responds:

Hello, here to respond! Thanks for your rough notes, I always love when judges do reviews.

My MIDIness is my weakness here, and by the way, I use Audacity because it's my only mastering bridge between keyboard and computer, I do only EQ there. Every other thing (volumes, individual EQs...) is a keyboard thing.

The transition is there because I had two song parts in mind and the fade-in was the first idea how to bridge them.

I see you and Jini have a similar opinion about the Lick, it's there only because of the bingo.

The transition between the dramatic break and the reprise of the second section is my favorite transition. I tried to stuff around with rhytms, especially drums. I'm glad you like it :)

Mixing is my Achilles heel in almost every song. I'll try to get it better next time.

Thank you so much for the review, and if you read all of this, you're incredible :D

[Manvineo's Decadance]

Heyo, here to judge. Glad to see the Spooktacular Audio Winner tackle even more competitions (to dominate lol)

I honestly don't have a lot to say about your entry: the strings, the melodies and the random clav really sell this as a spooky Halloween themed track I'd find in a spooky Halloween themed game. It's a pretty fun track, with a beautiful arrangement and orchestration; the sudden halt at 1:00 is kinda weird and really jarring at a first listen, but I think it's justified by the really well done climax starting at 1:10; really fun tug n pull dynamics!

It definitely has what it takes to be a fair boss track, but I've got to admit that it just doesn't get there by an inch. It do be spooky, but is it actually 'tense', does it shake me up with a litre of adrenaline or intimidate me with its menacing whispers? I don't think it does.
There's elements which could've helped, like a rhythmic section or more rhythmic-adjacent elements that would make one feel unrested, or perhaps incredibly cacophonic/relatively serious sections if you wanted to push a more 'scary' vibe. Right now it's a great song and a shpooki one at that, but that's where it stops at in the contest.

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Restlessness check: 10/15

Manvineo responds:

Sorry for the late reply, I was busy with stuff in real life (mainly school stuff, it's hard being part of the events team x-x). And thanks for the fair review! I agree that it lacks some elements that make it a boss theme, and I was probably limited due to my techniques for achieving a boss theme of a noble set in medieval times. Well, at least I got something to practice on which is good. Anyways, thanks for the review and listening <3 until next time, when evil Manvineo strikes again! >:)

[introspection]

Heyo, here to judge. Glad to see people joining contests to see how they compare to other music people, I've just never seen anyone do it after mere months lol

I was pleasantly surprised by the song energy, and equally pleased by the structure. Great oriental intro and somber cello that sets the mood, in order to the immediately juxtapose it to a explosive main theme. Great use of 7/8, which works really well with the melody and rhythm you chose, and which also takes you aback. Good call switching back to 4/4 for the 'verse' section, I like the cool arpeggio layered with a violin in the foreground (the latter could be louder in order to set in stone that it IS the instrument we should be focusing on).

The breakdown is top notch in my book; you managed to give it a really evocative effect through church bells and ride bells. The lengthy crescendo is well managed, and I like how it transitions back to the main theme (although I'd appreciate if the guitar/violins were an octave higher to give it more pathos).

If the melodies are good, che chords aren't as much: be careful about using 7th chords with no discretion or using weak intervals for the bass, they both make it sound clunkier than it should.
And unfortunately, I have to talk about the mix: the bass is really really quiet (even on my bassboosted headphones, I checked), there is a decent amount of mud in the low-mids, and the drums are really weak and uninfluential in the mix. The song has massive headbanging potential, but the mixing flattens it all to a neutral and bland pancake.

I learned to mix decently after years of trial and error. Just keep at it.

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Restlessness check: 13/15

crispybatteryacid responds:

Thanks for the review man. Next year, mark my words, cross my heart and hope to die; I will return. And my mastering will be good.

Mark my words.